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I am in urgent need of a new TV (10 yr old Sony 29" 4:3 set blew-up, much sooner than I planned). I am in the unfortunate position of not having really started researching & looking at AV gear & all this new technology is starting to blow my mind.

I have found large retailers pretty unhelpful or clued-up & they often contradict each other, which does not give me much faith in them. I just found this forum & am pretty amazed by all the knowledge & great advice so far ...

To cut to the chase ... what I want is a new monitor in the 37" to 42" range. Main usage will be (in order): Sky, dvd's, video & possibly using as computer monitor, which I think is possible.

Can anyone recommend 2 or 3 of the best displays up to around £2,700 (maybe a little higher) that can narrow the choice down a bit. Main priority is a great picture and good reliability/quality. Wish list would also be a slim frame (I like the Panasonics!) & good connectabilty/ease of use. Sound is not key, as I intend to use a home cinema system for films, but I would like some for day-to-day viewing.

Any help (or reference to similar posts) would be really appreciated - I am sorry if this is question already on the forum, but I need to get something pretty quick ... thanks!

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Thanks for this - very much appreciated. Fishbones - sorry about dumb questions, but what does AVM, scaler & SDTV mean?

Looks like I'll shortlist Panasonic PWD6, Hitachi 5000 series & Fujitsu P42VHA30 - enough fow now, unless someone really feels strongly about anything else. Just need to have a viewing & check out best prices & what's included (stand, tuner, speakers, etc) ... can anyone suggest a good & knowledgeable retailer within 10 miles of Finchley, London? If you can give me a person's name as well, that would be even better.

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Thanks for tip on inputs - the more I look at this new area of plasma's, the more I realise I need to learn before taking the plunge ... it's not like I buy a new TV frequently. Me thinks I'm just going to move the 14" from the kitchen into the living room for a few weeks & spend some more time digging into this fantastic forum - there's some great knowledge in this community.

My shortlist still contains the Panasonic TH-42PWD6, the Hitachi 42PD5100 & possibly the Fujitsu P42VHA30 although there appears to be far less info/posts on the latter.

One thing is for sure, but the new Panasonic PE30 is out as JL mentioned that it can only go on Panny stand (£400!) which simplay cannot take a largish amp - ideally I really need it to stand on my Soundstyle AV rack.

Another sure thing is that I'm going for a 42" now (so long as it has a slim frame, I have space) - I get a bigger picture & WOW! factor when my mates see it.

I have one question: assuming the set (one of the above ones) is on for say 8 hours a day (I have a wife & kids at home!) how long can I expect this set to last? My old Sony CRT lasted well for 10 full years, with nil faults/repairs.